The present invention relates to a collector of audience data in television broadcasting.
Heretofore, audience ratings have been compiled by solicitors who telephone, visit or send questionnaires to selected households by mail asking the identity of programs they watch at particular times. However, it is impossible through such methods to collect data quickly and to obtain an audience rating on an instantaneous basis. Moreover, although cable television systems and the like make possible the instantaneous collection of data, collecting audience ratings with such systems is expensive and it is not feasible to collect data from a wide area.
An object of the present invention, which has been made in the light of the above described problems is to provide an apparatus capable of collecting instantaneously audience rating data from a wide area.